In hot pursuit: Finding novel thermophilic CO-utilising microbes for syngas fermentation

Summary

A great challenge for society is to find sustainable and clean means to conserve energy and produce commodities. One promising solution is the gasification of biomass wastes into syngas (mixture of CO, H2 and/or CO2). Syngas can subsequently act as substrate for microbial fermentation to produce valuable compounds. Carbon monoxide, the main component of syngas, is highly toxic towards most organisms, but it is also a favorable energy and carbon source for specific CO-utilising microbes. This unique ability makes them attractive for industrial biotechnology applications. In this project, we investigated high-temperature environments for the presence of CO-utilising microbes, successfully isolating novel strains capable of this metabolism. We further characterised these microbes and evaluated their potential for application in syngas fermentation, highlighting their promise as great candidates for sustainable biotechnological processes.